Jesse James Was 'a Scared, Abused Kid'

During his interview with ABC's 'Nightline', the TV personality reveals that being a victim of childhood abuse has become one of the factors that drove him to cheat on Sandra Bullock.

Jesse James has blamed his childhood ordeal for his infidelity. During a candid interview, which was aired on Tuesday, May 25, with Vicki Mabrey of ABC's "Nightline", the estranged husband of Oscar-winning actress Sandra Bullock claimed he was a victim of child abuse and cited the bad experience as one of the factors that drove him to cheat on her.

"Bike builder, 'Monster Garage' TV star, all that stuff is a huge smokescreen so that people won't see that I'm a scared, abused kid, a seven-year-old," James told Mabrey. He also said, "The struggle within myself for the things that I did... to damage marriage and my life and everything else, it's all me. I'm doing it because, you know, I've basically never felt good enough for anyone."

"I grew up with a huge amount of shame and fear and abandonment on my shoulders from a very young age and I think, you know, the way my mind rationalized [cheating], 'Well, you know, I might as well do whatever I can to like run her off cause she is going to find out what I am anyway and leave me anyway'," James further stated.

Beside receiving treatment for being an abused kid during his month-stint in rehab, James also got treatment for sex addiction and anger management. On how he decided to sign up for rehab, he shared, "After about two days I realized, 'Wow, I'm kind of more messed up than most of the people here'."

"It was like peeling an onion. Every day it was a new revelation about myself and the things I've been doing," James revealed. "I cried more in rehab in the last 30 days than I have in my whole life. No BS. That's the truth."

Jesse James on Candid Interview With Vicki Mabrey of ABC's "Nightline":